Does the name Stanley Glanz ring a bell? What about the names Eric Harris and Robert Bates?

Robert Bates was a Tulsa, Oklahoma reserve deputy when he was part of a sting operation. Bates fatally shot unarmed Eric Harris, and said that he mistook his gun for his taser. Eric was restrained when Bates shot him.

On April 2, 2015, a jury found Bates guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. After serving 497 days, the 76-year-old Bates was released from the North Fork Correctional Center. He will serve probation for the remainder of his sentence.

In March 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay a $6 million settlement to Eric Harris estate’s excessive force lawsuit. If you would like to read more about that case and Bate’s trial, please click this link.

Former Tulsa, OK Sheriff Stanley Glanz

So, who is Stanley Glanz? Glanz was Sheriff of Tulsa. Eric Harris’ death uncovered a law enforcement agency in disarray. Glanz and Bates were fishing buddies. In September 2015, Glanz was indicted for failing to release a 2009 internal report that raised serious concerns about Bates’ ability to do his job. Glanz eventually pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a year of jail time, which was suspended.

Glanz was also named as a defendant in a civil suit filed by the family of Elliott Williams. Elliott Williams, 37 years old and a veteran, was taken to the Tulsa jail in October 2011 after being arrested in Owasso in the lobby of a Marriott hotel for misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer. Rather than going through the jail’s screening process, Elliott was taken directly to a holding cell.

Shortly after being placed in the cell, Elliott rammed his head into the door and fell to the ground. An inmate seeing what happened called for help, and Elliott told detention officers he had broken his neck and couldn’t move.

Detention officers did nothing. Elliott died at the Tulsa Jail on Oct. 27, 2011, after living on the floor of his cell for five days with a broken neck. He was unable to reach food or water. The jail did not send him to the hospital or provide treatment because nurses and the psychiatrist said he was faking paralysis.

Elliott’s family filed a civil lawsuit in 2012. In 2016, a federal court ruled that the case could proceed. At trial, former Sheriff Stanley Glanz testified that Elliott didn’t undergo a mental health assessment upon his arrival at the Tulsa Jail because he was “acting up.” He told jurors that because of Elliott Williams’ behavior, he didn’t have a problem with him not being evaluated.

Glanz also defended his use of racial slurs, saying that they were used by the FBI in written reports in the 1960’s.

Asked how often inmates fail to go through the booking process and lay in their own feces for 10 hours while yelling for help, Glanz responded that it happens “two to three times a week in that facility.” He stated that many are intoxicated and some of the jail staff believed that Elliott was intoxicated.

Joshua Lanter, who oversees the Tulsa branch of the state Medical Examiner’s Office, also testified at the civil trial. He told jurors that no one at the Sheriff’s Office informed him of Elliott’s complaints of a broken neck and paralysis before his initial autopsy.

Lanter said that the information he was given before the autopsy he performed was that Elliott refused to move while in the jail — not that he couldn’t move. He also testified that he never received surveillance video from inside Elliott’s cell for a better idea of what led to his death, despite the existence of such recordings. These details likely would have altered the way he performed the examination, he said.

Lanter did not discover the damage to Elliott’s spine in his initial examination because neck injuries can be hard to diagnose and he had not treated the case as a suspicious death. It wasn’t until a second autopsy was performed by another forensic pathologist that he was able to rule the cause of death as “complications of vertebrospinal injuries due to blunt force trauma.”

Tammy Hanley, a detention officer, logged that she fed Elliott at 10:50 the morning he died. However, Elliott was already dead at that time. Hanley was subsequently terminated for falsifying logbooks.

In March 2017, Federal District Judge Dowell ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, requiring Tulsa County and former Sheriff Stanley Glanz to pay $10.2 million and Glanz personally responsible for paying $250,000 in punitive damages, to the Estate of Mr. Elliott Williams. Elliott’s Estate had asked for $51 million in compensatory damages – a million dollars for every hour of that video showing Elliott lying on the floor of his cell with a broken neck.

Tulsa County and Glanz asked the court for a new trial. In addition to seeking a new trial, attorneys for the county and Glanz asked Judge Dowdell to consider overturning the jury verdict and render a decision in its favor.

The defendants contended the trial judge had erroneously permitted counsel for Williams to make “inappropriate remarks that inflamed ‘passion’ in the jury so as to increase the amount of compensatory damages awarded.”

In March, 2018, U.S. District Judge John Dowdell denied the request for a new trial. In a ruling that denied the request for a new trial and other motions filed on behalf of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and former sheriff Stanley Glanz, said;

“The evidence included testimony and exhibits that would support a finding that Mr. Williams: was paralyzed shortly after entering the jail; experienced severe mental and physical pain and suffering thereafter; was dumped off a gurney into a shower after defecating on himself; was left, helpless, in the running water for up to three hours; was berated and treated with indifference by jail staff despite his paralysis; and ultimately died.”

The judge said evidence showed that Williams begged for water, suffered from dehydration and could not feed himself or handle a cup of water as he “spent his last days lying on the floor of the jail cell in his own waste, where he ultimately died after the jail failed to provide him with necessary medical care or transfer him to an outside facility.”

The judge also said evidence showed that had jail personnel obtained timely medical care for Williams, he would not have suffered and died.

Dan Smolen, the attorney for Williams’ estate, told KRMG News that the case was unprecedented, in his experience.

“It’s the only case that I’m aware of, not just here locally in Tulsa but really nationally, dealing with people held in a detention setting where the records depict one thing happening, but the reality of what’s truly happening is caught on film over such an extended period of time,” Smolen said.”

“Jail records indicated Williams was eating, and receiving medical attention, when the video shows that was clearly not the case.”

“We believe that this prolonged and reckless neglect, in the way that they treated Elliot Williams in the Tulsa County jail, really constitutes one of the worst civil rights violations in U.S. history,” Smolen told KRMG.

Earlier, Elliott’s family sued Correctional Healthcare Companies, Inc. which was the contracted medical provider for the Tulsa jail. That case settled, and Glanz asked the court to require the disclosure of the confidential settlement. Glanz argued that he and Tulsa County were entitled to a credit or set-off. The judge denied that request.

Now, Glanz is appealing. The court did grant a request that the defendants not post bond while it pursues appeal.

The video below captured what happened to Elliot, summarizing each day, his complaints, and how the staff interpreted his complaints. It might be difficult to watch. The second video addresses Glanz’s use of racial slurs.

Reblogged this on The Secular Jurist and commented:
This is an illuminating but frightening look inside America’s troubled relationship between policing and race through close examination of a high-profile case.

What is up with Oklahoma in general? You have these cases, the murder of Khalid Jabara, Black Wall Street, the Daniel Holtzclaw situation, the death of Terrence Crutcher, and the OKC bombing back in the 90s. These situations are just sickening to me and the book needs to be thrown at everyone who was involved.

Thanks. You know what…I never thought about that. The Trail of Tears was a horrific event (how is this NOT considered genocide?) and no one should have to suffer from it. Not to sound superstitious, but now I wonder if this was some kind of curse as revenge for that event and the continued mistreatment of the various tribes.

Ospreyshire,
I get what you’re saying about superstitious, but there are times when karma acts. Reaping and sowing is universal law. Plant onions, get onions. The Trail of Tears was inhumane. The destruction of Black Wall Street was pure evil. It’s best to shed light a little at a time to reveal what was in the dark because too much light at once blinds.

Ospreyshire,
I can’t say for sure. It seems to work differently when evil is against an individual, as opposed to being done by those in authority. It sits back, as if waiting to see if there is any repentance. When there isn’t and evil acts again, Karma has a way of seeing that those representing the system are punished by the same system they relied on to carry out their evil.

Angela,
Mankind has choices to do good or do evil. Karma is for the living; not the dead. The dead have no suffering. The living does. The more evil is justified, the more it gives life to evil. I truly believe that remorse plays an important role in pulling up the seeds of evil. It’s like weeding a garden. Each time one appears, it has to be removed by the root. I’m not saying that I understand it all because bad things also happen to good people.

Xena: Of course humans have a choice to do good or evil. I’m also going to add to your point that people justify their own deeds like a real-life case of Protagonist Centered Morality. It’s as if everyone believes they are the good guys in their own eyes. You don’t see people running around twirling mustaches and doing evil laughs. Remorse can certainly stop since it’s a moment of clarity. I know when I do something wrong, I feel horrible. If only more people had that feeling.

Angela, that’s certainly a great point. It’s as if evil people get to sleep well as they feel good about their actions.

These cases make me sick. Wonder how many black men who commit manslaughter get a reduced sentence reduced further and serve only about 1.3 years? I want to look at what charges that land white men in prison as opposed to black men. Any guesses?

Prisons are a torture chamber especially for black prisoners who don’t seem to get appropriate medical care. Are the pseudo-medical staff ever sued for malpractice? Elliot certainly has a case.

When I read about such cases my mind goes to the days of slavery: The torture inflicted on slaves. There was and still is much hatred of Black people, I shudder when I imagine the rape, savagery, and torture of slaves inflicted by white slave owners, scarier when considering what is done today in our more “civilized” society.

I agree with you right there, Angela. The (in)justice system is so imbalanced. There are times where I see cases of a White person raping and murdering people while they are taken alive and think “wow, minorities (especially Black people) have been killed for less.” These double standards are sickening.

I totally hear you. I’ve read some lesser-known parts of Black history and I get angry because no one ever taught me these things in school. Even watching The Birth of a Nation [2016] was an intense watch with how realistic the brutality was. Shame on those media people who demonized Nate Parker who was falsely accused of rape while defending child rapists like Roman Polanski, serial sexual assailants like Harvey Weinstein, or pedophiles like Rob Lowe. On a slightly different topic, I found out things a while ago like the Slocum massacre and The Devil’s Punchbowl which just made me sick.

Hi there, last night I watched The Birth Of A Nation (2016). It was hard to watch because my imagination kept going deeper. Over the years I’ve come to understand American white culture. There is a need to justify white violence by scapegoating or attaching labels to their victims. That need is not so pervasive in other cultures. I believe slavery gave white Americans such unlimited power over another human race that the magnitude and severity of abuses did irreparable damage to the minds of black people as well as whites. I often think about the impact of slavery on the mental health of white ppl. Believing in your superiority has a price especially when it’s not true.

Seems education in this country serves a purpose other than educating.
You mentioned Devil’s punch bowl, I wrote a post about it last year. It was difficult to find detailed information. These stories bring tears.
DEVIL’S PUNCH BOWL: The Hidden History Of The Union Armyhttps://wp.me/p5wuli-d5

You saw that movie? Nice! Yeah, Nate Parker’s take is quite brutal and it is easily the most intense slave movie I’ve ever seen. The only difference is that it actually shows the slaves fighting back while simultaneously being based on a real-life event. You’re spot on with the mental health aspect because I believe people have cerebral chains instead of physical ones in this day and age. Just learning about various aspects of history and more recently precolonial African history was eye-opening. Seeing all the evidence about these rich kingdoms and how they influenced other cultures was so fascinating. I didn’t even know that there are Greek words that were directly based on the Wolof language in Senegal of all things. Superiority is based on a lie, but it’s a lie that unfortunately comforts people.

I tried checking out the links, but they weren’t working for some reason. It’s good you know about those events though.

Definitely. I was shocked that Fox of all people had the distribution rights to it after they bought that movie at Sundance. It was certainly a gut check of reality while also seeing a movie that would’ve never been made by some Hollywood directors. As someone who has cowered away from conflict in the past, this was inspiring for me to see the characters fight back against the wrongs that have befallen them.

I’ve unfortunately seen the original. The thing is part of my college degree involved film production and film history so I had to watch it in American Cinema class. The original film is the first full length movie in history and it is still shown in film history classes to this day. Some film historians consider the creator D. W. Griffith as The Godfather of cinema because of The Birth of a Nation (which is very sad indeed) and it was also the first movie to be shown at the White House, so let that sink in.

Same here, Angela. I’ve seriously wondered how much I haven’t learned all through school and college. After watching Hate Crimes In the Heartland (a documentary about Black Wall Street), I talked to one of my Caucasian friends since she asked me what movies I saw recently at that time. I explained what happened in that part of Tulsa and she was shocked. She said “I’ve never heard of that before! How is it that no one is teaching about something horrific like that [the actual massacre]?”. This friend said it really opened her eyes when I told her about that doc and the history of Black Wall Street.

Gotcha. Just wondering. I appreciate the intelligent discourse going on here. Keep it up!

“I’ve unfortunately seen the original. The thing is part of my college degree involved film production and film history so I had to watch it in American Cinema class.”

Same here. That, and Einsentein’s Battleship Potemkin were presented as films that introduced editing. The class, being made up of college Flower Children, Hippies and feminists, along with being taught about symbolism, went deeper into the title of “Birth of a Nation”. We discussed how D.W. Griffith intended for the title to mean that the south losing the Civil War, rebelled and was building its own nation within a nation. The KKK were the “heroes” — the controlling factor.

There was a film that challenged Birth of a Nation. It was titled Birth of a Race and was released around 1918.

Regarding Black Wall Street; I happened upon learning of it when researching how the GAP Band got their name. (Love their music) The name of their band used the initials of Greenwood, Archer, and Pine, the community intersection of Black Wall Street. I suppose I can say that I learned some of the untold or barely old Black History through the GAP band. In likened way, I also learned of the horrible death of Jose Campos Torres by Gil Scott Heron’s song, then I researched the subsequent cases of the cops who killed him.

Ospreyshire,
Yep. Amazing that I learned of Black Wall Street by being curious how the GAP Band got their name. In my opinion, Gil Scott-Heron was a prophet. B-Movie is timely for today. In it, he predicted that the U.S. would change from a nation of manufacturers to a nation of consumers.

That is so cool how the GAP Band got its name. Talk about not forgetting your roots. Gil Scott-Heron was certainly a head of his time. That prophecy is basically correct. His song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is actually more relevant now than it was then if you think about it. I also find it strange how the Jamie XX remix of his cover of “I’ll Take Care Of You” got sampled in “Take Care” by Drake and Rihanna. You can even hear his voice in some parts of that song, too.

Ospreyshire,
I have to look up “Take Care” by Drake and Rihanna. I usually leave Hip Hop to the younger generation, so chances are that one of my great nephews or nieces already has the tune and can play it for me. That will give me a chance to play Gil Scott-Heron for them. 🙂

That’s fine. I do know that song was a Top 40 hit a few years ago and it was surprising since it uses that beat prominently. They’ve most likely have heard the song at some point. You should show them Gil Scott-Heron’s version (the one remixed by Jamie XX) and watch their jaws drop when they recognize the tune. Hahaha!

Ospreyshire,
I found the Jamie XX remix on Youtube. I like it. Thanks for the info. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my parents said they were leaving rock and roll up to the younger generation. Then, they would hear a record I was playing and ask me to play it again. That was usually followed by, “Play that Sarah Vaughn ….” 🙂

Nice! It’s a good song and I liked the production on it. That was one of Gil Scott-Heron’s last recordings before he died. Sounds like a funny situation. It seems like every generation will have their moment when they wonder about whatever is new at the time.

Ospreyshire,
So true. My generation went from rock and roll to R&B. Funk seemed to be a genre that merged two generations. Now that I’m older, I appreciate growing up with Jazz and Blues. There are song artists I would not have known about if not for my parents. Just the other night, I played Nancy Wilson with Cannonball Adderley.

Sure thing. That makes sense how funk can merge generations even though I wasn’t born during the peak of its popularity. I know Parliament-Funkadelic and Cameo incorporated influences of both in their music. Funny enough, I’ve been listening to more jazz. Recently, I’ve been checking out Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, and I recently discovered a Black Argentinian tango composer named Horacio Salgan. I’m not familiar with those two artists, so I’ll have to check them out.

Ospreyshire,
Believe it or not, my generation thought that funk started with James Brown. LOL! Bootsie Collins played in Brown’s band. I went to Youtube and looked up the artists you suggested. I like Don Cherry.

Is that so? That’s kind of funny. Hahahaha! I didn’t know that about Bootsie Collins, but that’s great for him. Thanks for checking out some of those artists. Don Cherry was certainly a talented musician.

Angela,
Tracking cases across America is a most difficult thing to do because each state has its own laws, its own sentencing structure, and prosecutors from county to county within states operate differently.

Elliott’s family sued the medical facility that the jail contracted with. They entered into a confidential settlement. That is what Glanz wanted unsealed and to set-off the judgment against him, but the judge denied that request.

Regarding slavery, I’ve thought about that often these last several weeks because of the children of immigrants separated from their parents. That didn’t start this year in America. It was a common pattern in the slave trade and with slave owners, and America has never repented from that. Along with this, the Foster Parent programs across our country are not being addressed by politicians. Too often, a single parent is put in prison with a long sentence with no relatives to care for their child or children. They are placed in foster care or group homes. At the age of 18 when the checks stop, the children have no place to go. The only ones willing to “adopt” them are street gangs. It’s a vicious circle of the justice system creating conditions that law enforcement says it wants to eradicate.

Xena, I am amazed you track these cases. I know it’s difficult and time consuming.

Glad to hear Elliot’s family sued the medical facility and they were compensated. Many don’t realize they can also file a complaint with the State Board of Medicine. The medical staff deviated from standard of care and the board of medicine should investigate. What medical staff did was also criminal. Were criminal charges filed against the staff?

The above actions are necessary to put an end and get justice. If the courts will not prosecute cops who break the law make the state and their accomplice pay the price.

Last night I watched the remake of Birth Of A Nation. I haven’t seen the original version that led to the resurgence of the KKK and is used to recruit its members. Black bodies have always been assaulted by white people. For hundreds of years, our children raped by white men and women. In general, in the white community is there remorse for slavery? One can see the Germans regretted the holocaust but do white Americans regret slavery? I don’t think so and that’s a problem.

Child Protective Services don’t protect children, they are understaffed and not well trained. The system stinks! They turn children over to foster parents who do it for the money. They take the money but don’t care for the many children some foster homes have under their care.

A vicious cycle of the criminal justice system creating more criminals.

Angela,
You touch on some points that actually deserve discussion.
Re:

” One can see the Germans regretted the holocaust but do white Americans regret slavery? I don’t think so and that’s a problem.”

Germany could regret the Holocaust because its nation was not built on the belief that Jews are inferior, belonged in ghettos, subject to human experiments, imprisoned to work camps, and deserved to be eliminated by death. It’s much easier regretting and ridding a nation of leaders and authorities that believe and enact those horrible things when their practices are not in the founding of the nation.

There are two things in the U.S. Government; the constitution and the rule of law. Slavery in the colonies was legal. It was written in its founding document. The founding fathers of this nation and its constitution were slave owners. For some Whites, regretting slavery would be the same as rejecting the constitution and those men who fought against the British for the colonies to become its own nation, under its own rulership.

In my opinion, that is why even today, there are people who hear that those taking a knee are peacefully protesting against police brutality, but interpret and misrepresent it as people protesting against the military and the flag. They have a difficult time separating the founding fathers and what they allowed under slavery as law, from subsequent constitutional amendments, human decency, and respect for life in the “land of the free”.